Michael Howland
@MichaelFHowland
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Assistant Professor @MIT_CEE atmospheric flows, wind energy, optimization
Cambridge, MA
Joined December 2020
Our @NatureEnergyJnl paper demonstrates significant energy gain at a utility-scale wind farm by collective control based on a new predictive model. Collective control increases energy without cost for existing farms+enable higher energy density designs 1/9
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Excited to be at @APSphysics DFD 2024 this year in Salt Lake City, come check out the talks from our group!
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PRFluids Editors' Suggestion: @MIT researchers Klemmer & Howland unveil new insights into wind turbine wakes! They reveal how atmospheric stability transforms momentum & turbulence dynamics, paving the way for smarter, more efficient wind energy solutions! https://t.co/3o30hHnTEg
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🚨My lab at @MIT has multiple openings for fully funded PhD students! Topics include computational fluid dynamics, atmospheric flow, uncertainty quantification, renewable energy, and decarbonized power systems under climate change. App due Dec. 1st. https://t.co/xxEdqqrIFt
howlandlab.com
Openings We are always seeking motivated graduate students for PhD projects in renewable and efficient energy systems and environmental fluid mechanics. If you are interested in our group, please...
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Congrats to Prof. Michael Howland on receiving a 2025 Young Investigator Program award from the Office of Naval Research to support his project, “Closing the Loop on Joint Physics- and Data-Driven Modeling of Marine Boundary Layer Turbulence Above Waves.” https://t.co/QRaBnjiGe8
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🚨Postdoc position available in the Howland Lab at @MIT! Our lab is seeking a Postdoc for a two-year project on "Multi-fidelity modeling and uncertainty quantification of wind power aerodynamics." Further information about the position: https://t.co/xxEdqqrIFt
@MIT_CEE #energy
howlandlab.com
Openings We are always seeking motivated graduate students for PhD projects in renewable and efficient energy systems and environmental fluid mechanics. If you are interested in our group, please...
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Honored to receive the ONR @USNavyResearch Young Investigator award and excited to work on our project "Closing the Loop on Joint Physics- and Data-Driven Modeling of Marine Boundary Layer Turbulence Above Waves" @MIT @MITEngineering @MIT_CEE #turbulence #MachineLearning #CFD #UQ
Congratulations, 2025 #YIP awardees! 🎉 The ONR Young Investigator Program is a highly competitive program that attracts outstanding early-career academics in #STEM to propose innovative solutions to @USNavy + @USMC warfighter challenges. 📰: https://t.co/T1eVgmcE0E
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CEE engineers have developed the first physics-based model that accurately represents the airflow around rotors, even under extreme conditions. The model could improve the way turbine blades and wind farms are designed. https://t.co/R5FUJthvRu
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The Unified Momentum Model lowers prediction error across yaw and thrust coefficient regimes by 60%, 83%, and 78% for the induction, streamwise wake velocity, and spanwise wake velocity, respectively, compared to classical one-dimensional momentum theory.
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Often, when using momentum theory without empirical corrections in BEM modeling, the optimal control (pitch and tip-speed ratio) for a wind turbine is unidentifiable. The Unified Model enables the prediction of the optimal control without empirical corrections for the first time.
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The model also results in a new first-principles prediction for the maximum efficiency of a wind turbine, replacing the widely-used Betz limit, in addition to providing the theoretical maximum efficiency of a turbine that is misaligned with the inflow (yaw/tilt/pitch).
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The Unified Momentum Model generalizes and replaces classical 19th century momentum theory, and we leverage it for wind turbine rotor predictions in a blade element momentum (BEM) framework and also for wake modeling.
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We return to the first-principles of rotor aerodynamics to derive a Unified Momentum Model to predict power production, forces, and wake dynamics of rotors under arbitrary inflow angles and thrust coefficients without empirical corrections for the first time.
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Momentum theory forms the basis of wind power modeling from power to loads to wakes. But the theory breaks down outside of a very limited range of operation, which modern turbines are often beyond, necessitating empirical corrections that have widespread use.
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Our new study develops a Unified Momentum Model to predict rotor aerodynamics across operating regimes, eliminating the longtime reliance on empirical corrections used in aerodynamic modeling. https://t.co/VUs0IB2j5m
@MIT_CEE @MIT
nature.com
Nature Communications - Models used to optimize wind power are still limited to rely on empiricism when existing theory fails. Here, authors develop a Unified Momentum Model to predict power,...
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Our lab @MIT_CEE partnered with @VineyardWindUS for community outreach and education focused on the power and opportunities of offshore wind energy at the AHA! New Bedford event
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Had a fantastic time at the @Stanford Center for Turbulence Research (CTR) Summer Program, working on our project “Multi-fidelity modeling and uncertainty quantification of heterogeneous roughness.” Thanks to our hosts and CTR for the support!
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Wind turbines, especially offshore, are rapidly growing in hub-height and rotor diameter, increasing the impact of wind shear on wind power production. This motivates the urgent need to improve aerodynamic models of the impact of wind shear on power production, wakes, and loads.
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The blade element representation has lowest error, but all models substantially underpredict the magnitude of the impact of wind shear on power production.
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The standard power curve model does not account for the effects of wind shear. We evaluate the accuracy of models including the rotor equivalent wind speed model (IEC standard, correlation R=0.34) and a blade element model (correlation R=0.84).
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